This changes everything

Ryan Donn -
Feb 11, 2016 / 11:39 am | Story:
158276

Photo: Contributed - Joe Mabel

Naomi Klein

UBC is 100 years old this year.

UBCO is 10.

I think it’s fair to say that as a community, we are starting to see the benefits of having UBCO in Kelowna. One of the nice spin-off benefits is the UBC Okanagan Distinguished speaker series, presented by the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences.

I was over the moon to see that the series is hosting Naomi Klein on February 18, and when I found out that it was free, my jaw dropped. Too bad I didn’t go online at that moment. Instead I waited 24 hours, and by then the event was fully sold out.

For those who don’t know the name Naomi Klein, I am using my column today to share three of her most provocative points of view.

No Logo
Essentially this book foresaw the total takeover of brands in every aspect of society. Where we used to have brandless school lunches we now serve hot lunches from name brand stores. Where we used to have lesson plans created by teachers, we now have lesson plans for schools created by oil lobbies. Where the product itself used to be the thing of value in a sale, it’s now more about the brand.

Shock Doctrine
The essential thought behind this one is that governments have agendas. To further that agenda governments use shocking news items to push forward controversial agenda items. In a bit of a flip, she is currently talking about using the low oil price to shift our focus on oil. More info on that thought.

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate
To be honest, I haven’t dug much into this one, thus it was truly amazing to see her name announced as a distinguished speaker.

For those of us who missed the sign-up for the event next week here is a past presentation at UBC last year.

Ryan Donn

Click here for more information on the UBCO Distinguished Speaker Series.

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